SBIR and STTR Program

The Small Business Innovation Research Program, SBIR, is a research and development program that gives seed funding to small businesses to help address government needs.

The goals of the SBIR program have expanded since its inception in 1982, but the overall mission of the program is to:

Be innovative

Address government needs

Commercialize

The Small Business Technology Transfer program, or STTR, was developed following the success of the SBIR program. With STTR, a small business must partner up with a research institution. Specifically, a small business must do at least 40% of the work, whereas a research institution must do at least 30% of the work.

SBIR/STTR Phases

Both SBIR and STTR are structured three-phase programs.

SBIRs and STTRs start with a publicly-published topic that expresses a need. Small businesses provide a formal proposal to this topic and compete for what is known as Phase I. This proposal notes the small business’s innovative technical solution, their qualifications, and a commercialization strategy.

Phase I
Feasibility

phase I

During Phase I, the small business has the opportunity to develop a study that proves the feasibility of their solution. At the end of Phase I, the awarded small businesses have an opportunity to compete for Phase II.

Phase Il
Prototype

Phase II

Phase II has a substantial amount of funding compared to Phase I. During this phase, the small businesses expand on their feasibility study to develop a prototype or implementation that is ready for transition. Companies that were awarded a Phase I compete for a Phase II. In most cases, only one small business is down-selected to a Phase II.

The SBIR/STTR cycle does not have to start at Phase I, especially if you have already competed or been awarded a Phase I or II contract.

Phase Ill
Transition

phase III

Both Phases I and II are funded using SBIR/STTR funding. After Phase II, it is expected that program funding is no longer needed and the government program that first initiated the topic will take the reins to award a Phase III with non-SBIR/STTR funding. A Phase III contract can be any type of government contract with no limits on funding and duration.

SBIR/STTR Topics

SBIR/STTR projects are based on a topic that expresses the government’s needs. Those topics are posted publicly through Broad Agency Announcements, BAAs, so that small businesses can apply and propose a solution.

There are three fixed BAAs per fiscal year, and one annual BAA with varying release dates per topic. This summer the Navy will also feature an SBIR “Open Topic” opportunity! Details will be available here as the date approaches.

Each BAA has multiple SBIR and STTR topics from all agencies per cycle, so it’s important to continue to refer to your agency’s website for the latest information on deadlines.

Complete DoD SBIR/STTR BAA information can be found on their Funding Opportunities Website.

DoD and Navy FY-23 SBIR/STTR BAA Calendar

Joint DoD FY-23 SBIR/STTR BAA Schedule
Dates subject to change

ProgramPre-ReleaseOpensCloses
DoD SBIR 23.1
DoD STTR 23.A		11-Jan-238-Feb-238-Mar-23
DoD SBIR 23.2
DoD STTR 23.B
19-Apr-2317-May-23
14-Jun-23
Navy 2023
Open Topics		15-Jun-2313-Jul-2315-Aug-23
DoD SBIR 23.3
DoD STTR 23.C
23-Aug-2320-Sep-2318-Oct-23
DoD SBIR 23.4
(Annual)		Annual BAAs have DoD topics released throughout the year with varying open and close dates. View DoD BAAs
DoD FY-23.1 SBIR and 23.A STTR Broad Agency Announcements (BAA)
Pre-released 1/11/23 Opened 2/08/23 Closed 3/08/23 12:00pm ET
Now Closed
These BAAs were inclusive of 78 standard Navy SBIR topics, 6 Direct to Phase II topics, and 29 STTR topics from 5 of the Navy's SYSCOMs.

SBIR/STTR Eligibility

To be eligible for award of funding agreements in SBA’s SBIR and STTR programs, a business concern must meet the requirements below at the time of award of an SBIR or STTR Phase I or Phase II funding agreement:

SBIR Eligibility:

  • U.S. small business (500 or fewer employees).
  • Independently owned and operated and organized for profit.
  • Must have its principal place of business in the U.S.
  • At least 51% owned by U.S citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens.
  • A minimum of two-thirds of the research work must be performed by the SBC in Phase I and one-half in Phase II.
    The Principal Investigator must spend more than one-half of the time employed by the SBC.

STTR Eligibility:

  • U.S. small business (500 or fewer employees); no size limit on research institution partners.
  • Research institution must be a U.S. college or university, Federally Funded Research and Development Center or non-profit research institution.
  • Work must be performed in the U.S.
  • The SBC must perform a minimum of 40 percent of the work and the research institution a minimum of 30 percent of the work in both Phase I and Phase II.
  • The SBC must manage and control the STTR funding agreement.
  • The Principal Investigator may be employed at the SBC or research institution.

*Small Businesses must have their accounting systems approved for Government cost type contracts by their cognizant Defense Contract Audit Agency (www.dcaa.mil/).

SBIR/STTR Eligibility

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